System and method for automatically analyzing specific cheating practice in play of baccarat

ABSTRACT

A system, method and apparatus to collect data from a casino table game of baccarat for wagering pattern analysis. The data includes at least player identification (e.g., player position and/or individual player complete identification), game event history (e.g., Dealer and Player hand statistics and wins on each hand; and hand values; and first card dealt values), and wagering history associated with the identified player (e.g., how much was wagered on each hand). The data is at least temporarily stored and an analysis of the betting patterns is made based on whether the patterns may indicate wagering variance based upon apparent knowledge or correlating to coincidence of valued first cards dealt from the baccarat shoe.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of casino gaming, casinotable card gaming, baccarat and specifically methods and systems forautomatically detecting a specific form or cheating at baccarat in whicha player adjusts the size of wagers based upon a degree of foreknowledgeof a value for at least the first card dealt from a dealer's shoe toeither the player's hand or the dealer's hand. The invention alsorelates to the ability of casinos to detect cheating in real time,rather than subsequent analysis of only collective data after wageringevents have ceased.

2. Background of the Art

Wagering security within a casino is focused upon a number of differentareas of concern. Those areas include at least counterfeiting ofcurrency or tokens, counterfeiting of gaming implements (cards or dice),artificial manipulation of gaming implements (rigging slots, markingcards, weighting dice, weighting roulette wheels or balls, etc.),altering bet amounts or bet types during play, switching cards betweenplayers, dealer conspiracy with players, and wagering based upon adegree of intelligence of foreknowledge of cards in play. Each of thesedifferent issues requires distinct attention and differentimplementation of security to be able to control crimes being committedagainst the casino. The use of totally mechanical or totally electronicgaming systems tends to eliminate the majority of these potentialissues, but game players tend to play as much for the social interactionof live games with live players and dealers as they do for the enjoymentof game play. It is therefore necessary for systems, methods andapparatus to be developed that can assist in reducing the potential forthese criminal actions being taken at casinos without destroying thelive ambiance of a casino table game.

Among the various techniques and systems that have been disclosed formaintaining elements of security at casino tables include at least thefollowing.

WO04062754A1 (Shigeta) Card Game Cheat Detector, discloses a cheatdetector (10) that is provided to a table (1) so as to detect a cheat ina card game played on the table (1). The cheat detector (10) acquirescome-on card information for specifying a come-on card coming on in thegame. The come-on card information is stored during each game. The cheatdetector (10) also acquires receding card information for specifying acard receding from the game. By collating the come-on card informationwith the receding card information, it is judged whether or not thecome-on card agrees with the receding card. The result of the collationis outputted to an indicator. Any cheat of a card game can be detectedon the spot.

Manual or visually observed First Card Advantage systems are known inthe art, as described in “The Effects of ‘Marked Cards’ in a BaccaratGame,” Joseph, George D. Baccarat Study, Copyright 1986 N.P.C.C., whichis the analysis of a computer study executed and authored by Mr. Joseph.The analysis considered percentages of Bank wins, percentage of Playerwins and ties over a total of millions of hands played. The analysis onpages 39-44 emphasizes the effects of marked cards and a basis ofinferring that cards are marked. The study states that the “distinctpattern [of wagering that] will show itself if marked cards are beingused or some sort of peek is employed is the relationship of the bettingpatterns and the first card out of the shoe.” It is emphasized that thepattern usually applies when a group of players are making the same bet,making the integrity of the first card out of the shoe suspect.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,964,612; and 6,857,961 and Published U.S. PatentApplication 20050137005 (Soltys) disclose a system that reads anidentifier from a hand of cards to identify the cards. For example, thesystem can read an identifier from a pair of cards forming the initialhand in blackjack, one card is face up and the other card is face down.The system determines the value of a hand of cards from the readidentifiers. For example, the system can determine a value of an initialhand of two cards in blackjack, when only one card is face up. Thesystem can inform a dealer of the value, or status based on value, ofthe hand. The system can determine whether cards forming a hand of cardsare authentic by validating the cards based on the read identifier. Thesystem can determine if the cards forming the hand of cards are in anexpected sequence based on knowledge of the initial sequence of cards ina deck.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,864 (Kim) discloses a gaming table managing systemand method thereof for determining the performance of dealers and alsoestimating the revenue for each gaming table. The system employs awireless communications network and includes: an identification card; atable module having a plurality of service call buttons, a chip sensingmechanism and a card reader, for generating service call data,dealer-associated data and chip-associated data; a host computer forreceiving the dealer-associated data and the chip-associated data anddetermining the performance of the dealer and estimating the revenue ofthe gaming facility, using received data; and a service call processingunit for receiving the service call data and displaying the same on ascreen.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,069 (Sines et al.) describes systems and methods forplaying live casino-type card games, in particular blackjack. Thesystems include a presentation unit which has video displays whichportray virtual playing cards and other information at gaming tablesattended by live participants. Shuffling, cutting, dealing and return ofplaying cards are accomplished using data processing functions within anelectronic game processor or processors which enable these functions tobe performed quickly and without manual manipulation of playing cards.The invention allows casinos to speed play and reduce the risk ofcheating while maintaining the attractive ambiance of a live table game.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,090 (Mothwurf) discloses a method and apparatus fordetermining the win or loss of individual participants in a game ofchance, such as for example Black Jack, Poker or the like, wherein thebet and the winnings are represented by chips. A central chip depositoryis provided for receiving the game inventory and the latter has meansfor determining its momentary content. At least one chip deposit area isprovided per participant and has in each case at least one sensor forthe detection of chips lying on the deposit area. The means fordetermining the momentary chip content and also the sensors have theiroutputs connected to the inputs of a data processing system.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,527 (Jones II, et al.) describes a system of sensorsto prevent cheating at a casino gaming table, where the sensors arestrategically positioned about a casino gaming table to monitor themovement about certain established areas on the gaming table duringcertain established times during the play of the game. The tripping of asensor in response to the detection of unauthorized movement about acertain area of the table sends a signal to a monitoring system which inturn alerts the casino so that the casino may respond to theunauthorized movement accordingly. The system of sensors can be usedwith a wide variety of card-based or chip-based casino gaming tables.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,249 (Sines et al.) describes a playing card deck forplaying blackjack or casino twenty-one. The cards preferably havediagonally opposing primary and secondary corners. All cards in the deckhave indicia or markings at the primary corners which indicate thenature of the card (suit and card type). The deck has two groupings ofcards. The secondary corners of the first group do not indicate thespecific nature or count of the card. The secondary corners of thesecond group, such as aces, have secondary indicia. This allows a dealerto selectively peek at the secondary corner of his face-down card todetermine whether a blackjack hand exists. If blackjack does not exist,then the dealer does not know the rank of the face-down card andcheating or unintentional disclosure is prevented.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,422 (Storch) describes coding systems utilizingmachine-readable coding. The coding systems are extremely simple to useand preferred embodiments of the machine-readable coding require noexternal reference or reference code or starting point or orientationfor reading or decoding. The number of usable codes for any given numberof code elements (bits or digits) is maximized, or, conversely, aminimum number of code elements are required for a given application,thus allowing each code element to be of maximum size for a given codingarea. Also, methods and apparatus for encoding objects, and for reading,decoding, processing and using the information obtained from suchencoded objects are disclosed. The coding may be applied to objects suchas casino chips, currency, automated production line components,consumer products, household items, zip coded objects, etc. The codingsystem and systems using the coding can be employed for enablingpositive real-time detection of counterfeits (rather than merecounterfeit deterrence), cash monitoring, information gathering, objectidentification, etc., at minimum cost with maximum reliability andreal-time speed. Preferred embodiments of systems concern round casinochips and paper money. Signals and data may be encoded independently ofphysical objects while obviating the need for any reference orsynchronization in the coding.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,941 (Bacchi) discloses a monitoring system arrangedto monitor and record each transaction taking place on a gaming table.The system includes a tray for receiving gaming chips and sensors forsensing the chips held by the tray. A cash box is provided for thedeposit of cash received in return for chips dispensed from the tray. Akeyboard is provided to record each deposit of cash into the cash box. Acentral processing unit is responsive to a timer, the keyboard and thesensors to record each transaction which takes place on the gaming tableinto data storage means. A warning light lights up in the event thatmoney which has been deposited in the cash box is not entered into thekeyboard. The system enables management to conduct a complete analysisof the transactions taking place on the gaming table, to provide notonly figures giving the profitability of the table but also anindication of the competence and integrity of the croupier.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,808 (Strisower) discloses a device utilized incasino gaming environment that will count the number of hands of a givencard game played per given period of time. The information is used by adatabase system within the casino to determine theoretical win/lossbased upon historical and theoretical outcome data related toprobability of winning/losing any given hand and then factoring in thenumber of hands played. Preferably this device is polled by a databasesystem to collect this information. In a preferred embodiment, thedevice could be utilized with an automatic tracking and informationmanagement system.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,936 (Bennett et al.) describes an automated gamingtable tracking system for a gaming table, such as blackjack. A sensorlocated in the dealer's card playing area senses the start and end ofeach game. A unique player identity card is given to each player thatcontains information on the player. When a player arrives at a playerposition on the table, the player inserts his player identity card intoa player station control at the player position. A central distributioncontrol is connected to each player station control for determining thestart and the end of each game and beginning and termination of play byeach player at each position. A host computer is then interconnected tothe central distribution control for storing the player identityinformation and the player position for each player station control, thestart and end of each of the games, and the beginning and termination ofplay at each player position from the central distribution control. Thehost computer prints a player tracking card. The floor supervisorobserves the player during the game and fills out the in-session gaminginformation. Once the player leaves the table, the player tracking cardwith the in-session gaming information filled out is then placed in anautomatic reader so that the read in-session gaming information isstored in a data base corresponding to the identity of the player.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,742 (French) describes a fully automated accountingsystem that automatically monitors and records all gaming chiptransactions in a casino. The system employs a gaming chip having atransponder embedded therein and has an ongoing and “on-command” abilityto provide an instantaneous inventory of all of the gaming chips in thecasino, including those in storage in the vault as well as the chips inthe cashier's cage and at each gaming table on the casino floor. Thesystem is capable of reporting the total value of the gaming chips atany location, as well as the value of any particular transaction at anygaming table or at the cashier's cage. Optionally, the transactionhistory of each chip may be maintained in a data base embedded in thechip (or alternatively in a central computer), and read each time thegaming chip is scanned by a special antenna. If the chip is not where itis supposed to be according to its recorded transactional history (forexample, a vault chip shows up on a gaming table without having passedthrough the cashiers cage), it will be identified and may be invalidatedby nullifying a special casino security code.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,700 (Dylag) describes apparatus for preventingcard-counting in blackjack games. The apparatus includes one or moreshields on a playing table which obstruct each player's view of at leastone other player's cards, without obstructing each player's view of thedealer's cards or the dealer's view of any of the cards. One or moreshields may be used. They may be fixed to the table, or they may beportable so that the dealer may move them during the game if he or shewishes. Portable shields may be supported by legs, or may be inserted ingrooves in the table. Each shield is a thin sheet of opaque materialwhich stands generally vertical with respect to the table. The planedefined by the shield generally passes through the dealer's line ofsight so that the dealer's view of the players' cards, and each player'sview of the dealer's cards, is not obstructed. However, each player'sview of at least one other player's cards is obstructed so that none ofthe players may count cards. A checker vantage point is provided overthe table from which a checker may view the dealer's card and each ofthe player's cards.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,181 (Shear et al.) describes a process of analysisthat can be used, among other things, for designing optimal strategiesfor blackjack, including a method for narrowcasting selected digitalinformation involving a plurality of first appliances and a secondappliance, the plurality of first appliances each being located remotelyfrom the second appliance, the second appliance and at least one of thefirst appliances including a secure node used to process rightsmanagement information, including: (a) at the second appliance, securelyreceiving from plural of the first appliances user rights managementinformation associated with plural users and processing the receiveduser rights management information in the second appliance's securenode; (b) using the received user rights management information in aprocess of creating a user class hierarchy; (c) assigning a user to auser class defined by the user class hierarchy, the assignment based atleast in part on the received user rights management information; (d)associating digital rights management information with digitalinformation; (e) defining a digital information class hierarchy at leastin part based on the digital rights management information; (f)assigning the digital information to a digital information class definedby the digital information class hierarchy, the assignment based atleast in part on the digital rights management information; (g) matchingthe digital information class with the user class, the matching based atleast in part on rights management information; (h) selecting thedigital information; (i) selecting the user; and (j) sending the digitalinformation and associated rights management information to the user.

Numerous patents provide physical systems, cards and the like, fortraining players to play with skill, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,048. ThisPatent provides combination cards for learning and practicing blackjackand blackjack strategy systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,326 describes theuse of flash cards for teaching and practicing blackjack. The systemsonly marginally monitor optimal strategy by informing a player when theyare correctly exercising optimal strategy. They do not maintain recordsand compare a level of optimal strategy for any goal other thenteaching.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,662 (Miller) describes a wager sensor which isemployed on the underside of a gaming table surface. The sensoridentifies when a wager has been placed on the top surface above thesensor and communicates a signal of this occurrence to a controllingcomputer which monitors the flow of the game. Ideally a number of tablesare equipped with the sensors and a single controlling computer is thenable to monitor the operation of the entire assembly.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,517 (Beavers) describes a table game positionmonitoring system. The system includes a position sensing system thatgenerates position data, such as the positions of one or more playersand the value of cards, dice, roulette wheels, or other game implements.A wager system generates wager data, such as the wager placed by eachplayer at each position. A payout system receives the position data andthe wager data and generates payout data, such as by using the positiondata to determine the outcome of the table game and the wager data todetermine the payout data based on the outcome of the table game.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,896,614; 6,805,628; 6,217,447; and U.S. PatentApplication No. 20040082372; (Romero) variously disclose a gamingassembly to play a variation of the game of baccarat. The gamingassembly includes a computer processor assembly, a display assembly anda user actuatable selector assembly. The computer processor assemblygenerates a player's hand and a banker's hand in accordance with rulesof baccarat, one of those hands being designated the user's hand, andsubsequently determines a winning hand in accordance with the rules ofbaccarat, designating the user as a winner if the user's hand is alsothe wining hand. Additionally, the computer processor assembly monitorsconsecutive ones of the user's hands and indicates a bonus payout to theuser in the event that consecutive ones of the user's hands have a finalnumber count equal to a natural nine, and during game play may allow oneof the initial cards that comprise the player's hand or the banker'shand to be discarded in exchange for a new card to complete the initialhand.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,447 (Lofink) describes a method and system forgenerating displays related to the play of Baccarat. Cards dealt to eachof the Banker's and Player's hands are identified as by scanning anddata signals are generated. The card identification data signals areprocessed to determine the outcome of the hand. Displays in variousformats to be used by bettors are created from the processedidentification signals including the cards of the hand played,historical records of outcomes and the like. The display can also showbettors expected outcomes and historical bests. Bettors can refer to thedisplay in making betting decisions.

Published U.S. Patent Application 20030069054 (D'Aurora et al.)discloses a gaming simulation program providing for user selection ofgaming and betting strategies. Games which may be simulated by thedisclosed invention include war, blackjack, poker, keno, baccarat, etc.The program includes a gaming module and a simulation module. The gamingmodule allows the user to input a gaming strategy, a betting strategy, aplaying mode, a number of iterations of the simulation and a speed ofthe simulations. The playing modes include single hand mode, automaticmode and session mode. The simulation module executes the simulation ofthe number of game iterations provided by the user to the gaming module.The gaming program may also include a statistics module which compilesand displays statistics of a game during and at the conclusion of asimulation.

Published U.S. Patent Application 20050062227 (Grauzer et al.) describesa playing card delivery shoe is used in the play of the casino tablecard game of baccarat. The shoe may comprise a) an area for receiving afirst set of playing cards useful in the play of the casino table cardgame of baccarat; b) first card mover that moves playing cards from thefirst set to a playing card staging area wherein at least one playingcard is staged in an order by which playing cards are removed from thefirst set of cards and moved to the playing card staging area; c) secondplaying card mover that moves playing cards from the playing cardstaging area to a delivery area wherein playing cards removed from thestaging area to the delivery shoe are moved in the same order by whichplaying cards were removed from the first set of playing cards and movedto the playing card staging area; and d) playing card reading sensorsthat read at least one playing card value of each playing cardseparately after each playing card has been removed from the area forreceiving the first set of playing cards and before removal from theplaying card delivery area. There is a communication link between theplaying card reading sensors and a processor, and the processor analyzessaid data according to rules of play of the game of baccarat anddetermines results of play for a round of play of baccarat based uponsaid data, the processor transmitting displayable information from theprocessor to a display device. The specification also states that: “Thecentral database merely organizes the data in a manner that allows foreasy access by external computers or another application programresiding on the same computer as the database. The data may be analyzedand used to make decisions about whether there is cheating and or dealercollusion, awarding redeemable points and free rooms to players, etc.,scheduling pit labor, promoting pit personnel, closing and openingtables, determining optimal betting limits for given periods of time andother important managerial functions.”

Published U.S. Patent Application 20050164761 (Tain) describes a methodfor managing a card game supported by a poker dealing device, a centralmanagement unit, and a computerized-information-processing center. Themethod includes the following steps: (a) Read the playing card that isbeing dispensed from the poker dealing device to generate a card signalrepresenting a card value of the playing card in such a manner that theother playing cards, which have not been dispensed from the pokerdealing device, remain in secret. (b) Send the card signal to thecentral management unit by means of remote communication. (c) Receivethe card signal with a signal receiving link of the central managementunit. (d) Process the card signal to record the card values of theplaying cards that have been dispensed from the poker dealing devicewith the central management unit, such that the central management unitis capable of tracking the card values of each hand for a card game,thereby reducing a risking of cheating with reference to the recordedcard values.

Each of the Applications and Patents described herein are incorporatedby reference in their entirety to assist in providing technology,apparatus and systems that may be used within the description oftechnology elsewhere provided herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system, method and apparatus to collect data from a casino table gameof baccarat for wagering pattern analysis is described. The dataincludes at least player identification (e.g., player position and timein and out, and/or individual player complete identification and time inand out), game event history (e.g., Dealer and Player hand statisticsand wins on each hand; hand values; first card dealt values), andwagering history associated with the identified player (e.g., how muchwas wagered on each hand; whether a Player bet, Bank bet or Tie bet waswagered; and which player or players made the bets). The data is atleast temporarily stored and an analysis of the betting patterns is madebased on whether the patterns indicate wagering variance based uponapparent knowledge or correlating to coincidence of valued first cardsdealt from the baccarat shoe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a table system according to the presenttechnology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The basic play of the casino table card game of Baccarat is relativelysimple and relatively inflexible. The player may feel comfortablerelying solely upon the luck of the draw or his/her own luck in playingthe game, as opposed to feeling that, as in some other casino games,there is a level of skill needed that is intimidating to the player.Those rules are summarized below. Even with little variation in therules being tolerated, these are merely general rules are not limitingin the scope of the technology practiced according to the disclosureprovided herein.

Baccarat or “Punto Banco” is usually played in a separate casino area.The playing table is about the size of a craps table with three casinodealers and up to 12 or 14 players. There are just two principal bets tomake: banker or player—Banco or Punto (the Bank or dealer and thePlayer), plus the rarely placed Tie bet. Some casinos let the playersdeal the cards in turn and others have a casino dealer deal the cards.In online Baccarat, the cards are dealt automatically by a virtualdealer.

Each player, including the player dealing, may bet on either Punto orBanco but it is customary for the player dealing the game to bet onBanco. Players may opt not to deal, passing the ‘Shoe’ to the nextplayer. The shoe remains with one player as long as the Bank wins. IfPunto wins, the shoe passes on to the next player.

Two hands are dealt and you bet which one will win, or that they willtie. The bets are made before any one of the cards in either hand isdisplayed. It is just like betting on Black or Red at roulette, and thepayoff is even money, 1:1 (except for the Tie, which pays 8-1 or 9-1).The only difference between the Banco and Punto bet is a win on Bancowill cost the player a 5% commission or tax levied by the casino—thebuilt-in advantage.

Each hand consists of a minimum of two and a maximum of three cards. Theperson dealing will put two cards, face down, tucked under the shoe, andgive the player with the largest bet on Punto the other two cards, facedown.

The Punto player then looks at the cards and gives them back to theplayer who is dealing. Then the player who is dealing will turn over thecards of both hands while one of the casino dealers will announce theresults and the winner.

If either hand has a total of 8 or 9 (nine is the highest), then it iscalled a ‘Natural’ and no more cards are dealt. If it is not a natural,then depending on the value of each hand the casino dealer may instructthe card dealer to deal a third card. The decision of when to deal athird card follows precise set rules used by all casinos.

Once dealing is completed, the hand with the highest count (9 being thehighest possible count, with first digits in two-digit totals beingdropped, such as an 18 becoming a count of 8) wins. The casino's dealerwill collect the losing bets first and then pay the winning ones. Theplayer who actually deals the cards is not responsible for the payouts.He is just like any other player, playing against the casino.

RULES Baccarat is played from a six-deck or an eight-deck shoe. All facecards and 10's have no value. Cards less than 10 are counted at facevalue, Aces are worth 1. Suits don't matter. Only single digit valuesare valid. Any count that reaches a double digit drops the left digit.15 are counted as 5 and 25 is also counted as 5.

To start, the players bet either on Banco or Punto or Tie. The carddealer gives two cards each; first to the player and then the banker.The object of the game is to bet on the hand that you think will havethe highest total value.

A third card may be dealt to either or both the player (Punto) and thebank (Banco) based on the following three-card-rules. It is notnecessary to learn these rules to play, they are compulsory decisionsand therefore automatic. The rules for third-card drawing are:

Player's Third-Card-Rule

If either the player or the bank have a total of 8 or 9 on the first twocards no further cards are drawn. The resulting hand is called a naturaland the hand is over.

If the player's total is less than or equal to 5 the player's hand drawsa third card.

If the player does not draw a third card, then the bank's hand stands on6 or more and takes a third card on a total of 5 or less.

If the player does take a third card then the Bank's third-card-rulebelow will determine if the bank takes a third card.

Bank's Third-Card-Rule

If the bank's total is 2 or less then bank draws a card, regardless ofwhat the player's third card is.

If the banks total is 3 then the bank draws a third card unless theplayers third card was an 8.

If the banks total is 4 then the bank draws a third card unless theplayers third card was a 0, 1, 8, or 9.

If the banks total is 5 then the bank draws a third card if the playersthird card was 4, 5, 6, or 7.

If the banks total is 6 then the bank draws a third card if the playersthird card was a 6 or 7.

If the banks total is 7 then the bank stands.

House Advantage (6 Decks)

Banker (Banco) 1.17%

Player (Punto) 1.36%

Tie (Tie) 14.12% at 8:1 payout

House Advantage (8 Decks)

Banker (Banco) 1.06%

Player (Punto) 1.24%

Tie (Tie) 14.36% at 8:1 payout

The play of baccarat has been evaluated extensively, and the statisticaland/or probabilistic likelihood of outcome has been thoroughly andrepeatedly investigated and published (e.g., “The Effects of ‘MarkedCards’ in a Baccarat Game,” supra). The implication of this analysis isthat with knowledge of only the first card out of a shoe, a player willhave pre-knowledge of the statistical events (winning or losing) for thehand that the known first card will be used in, usually the player'shand. In effect, with knowledge of the first card out of the shoe, theplayer will know the exact statistical advantage of the dealer's hand,the player's hand and tie events. Based on this information, the playercan adjust wagers in advance of the first card being dealt and exposed(which is the way wagers are placed in baccarat), thus maximizing thelikelihood of a winning session at baccarat.

It is important to note that knowledge of the first card out of the shoeis important, not only when the first card out of a shoe is a potentialnatural card (e.g., 8 or 9), with a 0 value card with it but for anyvalue of card. The actual statistical advantage will be higher (wageringon the player hand) with such natural cards and with a 7 as the firstcard, but conversely, the knowledge of a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 alsoprovides the player with useful information as to whether to place alarge wager on the Bank hand or Ties with higher frequency (when a 0value card is first out of the shoe) or to reduce or minimize the amountof the wager based upon expectation of a narrower or smaller knowledgeof the probability of a specific hand winning.

Analysis of the correspondence of single player wagers and/or multipleplayer wagers and their relationship to the absolute number of wagersplaced “accurately” on a hand (dependent of the first card out of theshoe and/or a weighted analysis of that correspondence based on the sizeof wagers “accurately” placed on a hand on the basis of the first cardout of the shoe) may be used to indicate or imply knowledge of the firstcard out of the shoe.

The analysis is performed by a computerized system that collects thenecessary information (e.g., at least the rank of the first card out ofthe shoe and the location of the bet placement for a particular playerand/or group of players; and preferably also the size of the wager madeby each individual player and/or group of players) and analyzes thecollected information to determine any significant statistical deviationfrom a random placement of bets according to the statistical benefit ofknowing the value of the first card.

The devices and methods of the present invention can be used to detect avariety of tactics used by players who use first card pre-knowledge.

Some players only bet on hands that are likely to win, and pass onbetting on hands that are less likely to produce a winning outcome.Statistical detection of players who only place bets when the first cardout is a 0, 1 (betting on the banker) or 8,9 (betting on the player) arethe easiest to detect.

Other players will increase a bet when the first card is favorable to ahand (i.e. 0, 1, 8, 9), but bets much less on other hands.

More covert methods include a player playing only one hand (i.e., theplayer hand), and betting larger amounts on hands that favor the playerhand and minimal amounts when the first card favors the banker hand.

The statistical deviation analysis may be based upon an analysis ofwagering statistics based on all first cards out of the shoe or forgroups or sets of ranks of first cards coming out of the shoe. Forexample, if a cheater were attempting to mask knowledge of the firstcard out of the shoe, this could be most effectively done against asystem wherein all wagers (without consideration of the amount of thewagers) on all card ranks are considered in the following manner. If theanalysis were to detect deviation from the random numbers of wagersplaced on a dealer's hand and player's hand based on the overallstatistical advantage of the first card out of the shoe (overall alsoconsidering any fee paid for the wager on the Bank hand) and does notconsider the amounts of wagers being placed, a masking technique couldbe constructed as follows. Players seeing or knowing ranks of firstcards out of the shoe with the highest statistical indicating value ofan advantage to one hand or the other (e.g., a player's first card of a0, 1 or 2 having a high statistical advantage for a Bank win, and a 7, 8or 9 having a high statistical advantage for a player win) would betrelatively high amounts on the statistically advantaged hand when theprobability of an advantage is highest. Players would then mask theoverall “accuracy” of the placement of the wagers by placing smallerwagers on the hands with the lower probability of being winning hands.Those hands will be winning hands at a statistically higher rate thanwagers placed against hands with higher probabilities of being winners.In this way, the deviation from random placement of wagers on hands withknowledge of first card advantages will be minimized, yet the amount wonwill in the long run will still exceed winning of wagers on hands thatwere truly placed randomly and by guessing winners.

For the above reasons, there may be a need for more than a single typeof advantage detection technique to be used, either at specific tablesor at the same time. The cost of the software would also be aconsideration, as the analyses are more complex when the amount of thewager, the absolute statistical wagering probability, and the wageringactivity on specific groups of first cards are to be considered in theanalysis performed with the various software.

Thus, multiple types of software can be provided to effect differentlevels of analysis of the wagering statistics to provide evidence ofcheating in baccarat, especially First Card Advantage (FCA) cheating.This is desirable as each type of software offers at least some type ofadvantage to the casino, while others may provide greater advantage.Additionally, some software (if not all of the software) may be used forreal time cheat detection. The real time attribute is rationallylimited, for example, in that no software can provide definitiveevidence of FCA cheating with a single wager. It is only when a seriesof wagers is indicative of a statistical deviation from random wageringthat the evidence also becomes significant. Consider the situation wherean individual starts play at a baccarat table and has a means ofobtaining First Card Advantage knowledge, with each wager being analyzedand recorded. 1) Based on this knowledge, the player's first wager isaccurately placed. This event would occur approximately 50% of the time,so this first event is statistically insignificant. 2) Based on thisknowledge, the player's second wager is accurately placed. This eventwould occur approximately 25% of the time, so this first and secondevent is still statistically insignificant, even though it has a higherprobative value of FCA.

The following tables show player advantages based on Baccarat First CardData available from a variety of identified sources. 1^(st) Card PlayerResults Bank Results P Advantage B Advantage 0 −0.024608 0.016989−8.00%* 5.52%* 1 −0.006024 0.004125 −7.83% 5.36% 2 −0.005665 0.003777−7.36% 4.91% 3 −0.005166 0.003293 −6.72% 4.28% 4 −0.004326 0.002482−5.62% 3.23% 5 −0.002671 0.000871 −3.47% 1.13% 6 0.000582 −0.0022840.76% −2.97% 7 0.005665 −0.00724 7.36% −9.41% 8 0.013303 −0.01470817.29% −19.12% 9 0.01656 −0.017884 21.53% −23.25%*Reported in the literature as occurring 4× more often but figures arenormalized because there are 4× as many 10 value cards in the deck.

In Version 2.1 of the BFC Rules Program, 2006 (e.g., referred to belowas the Leslie Advantage) and as reported by two other researchers, Kilby(1996) and Whiting (1997), the statistical dealer advantages were shownand are compared below with the statistical advantage determined byJoseph with First Card Advantage knowledge. FIRST CARD ADVANTAGECOMPARISON 1^(st) Card Leslie Adv. Kilby Adv. Whiting Adv. Joseph Adv. 05.52% 5.52% 5.59% 10.77% 1 5.36% 5.36% 5.29% 9.63% 2 4.91% 4.91% 4.80%8.68% 3 4.28% 4.289 4.14% 7.61% 4 3.23% 3.23% 2.87% 5.50% 5 1.13% 1.13%1.20% 3.28% 6 0.76% 0.76% 0.68% 2.24% 7 7.36% 7.37% 7.22% 10.12% 817.29% 17.29% 17.21% 22.87% 9 21.53% 21.53% 21.49% 27.16%As can be readily seen from these comparisons, First Card Advantageknowledge can significantly shift player advantage by appropriatelyplacing wagers on the more advantaged position (Player versus Banker).

The system, method and apparatus described herein is intended fordetecting a particular type of cheating in Baccarat termed “First CardAdvantage (FCA).” If the player has the knowledge of the rank of thefirst card, and knowing this first card always goes into the playerhand, the cheating player can bet on the player hand when the card valuefavors the player winning, or can bet on the banker hand if the firstcard is unfavorable to the player hand. The system uses a card rankreader, a position detector at each player station, a processor andsoftware that correlates player hand selection and betting amounts withthe rank of the first card dealt. The player position information may becorrelated with player I.D. information either collected from a playertracking system, for example.

The basic content of the cheating method revolves around the fact thatknowledge of the actual rank (suit is unimportant) of a first card outof a shoe and its intended location (banker/dealer hand or player hand)can assist players in predicting likely outcomes of the hand, or atleast provide knowledge that is valuable in statistically assessingpotential outcomes in that hand of baccarat.

With knowledge or pre-knowledge of first cards out of the shoe, theknowledgeable player would be likely make a Player wager of an increasedamount on hands with a decided Player bet advantage, such as by way of anon-limiting example when the initial card is an 8 or 9. Theknowledgeable player may make a Banker wager of an increased amount onhands with a decided banker bet advantage, such as when an initial cardout of the shoe is a low ranking card, such as a 0, 1 or 2. Similarly,initial cards out of the shoe being a value of 7, 6, 5, 4 or 3 arewagered upon more moderately by a player.

The system of the invention therefore collects data and evaluates playerwagering history, along with subsequent knowledge of the initial cardsto determine if a pattern of betting indicates that a player waswagering with a high degree of knowledge of the count of a first cardout of the dealer's shoe. This system would therefore be implemented asfollows.

Card Reader

A component or system must be provided that can read at least thenumerical count or value of a first card out of a dealer's shoe in theplay of a round of the game of baccarat. The count (i.e. the numericalvalue of the card) may be taken in a wide variety of ways. For example,sensors or cameras may be placed in the shoe or shuffling deviceproviding cards to the game. A card reading sensor may be positioned inthe table and/or may be read by an overhead or field of view camera atthe table. Such a reading may be done at various times. For example,cards may be read before the card is delivered. A shuffler that readscards or a card reading shoe would read cards internally before cardsare delivered. Cards may be read as the cards are removed from theshuffler or shoe, for example, by a reading element in the delivery endof the shoe, at the tip of the shoe, or adjacent the delivery end of theshoe. Cards may be read as they are moved away from the shoe or when afirst card out of the shoe is placed face down in the appropriate firstcard out of the shoe position. Cards may be read on the table, forexample at a player position when the card is face down, or when thecard is revealed during play at the first card out of the shoe position.

The reading may be done by any format of information gathering that isknown, such as symbol reading, cameras, code reading (with codes oncards that are read by any method), dealer or observer input (e.g., thedealer visually reading a card and inputting data) and the like. Thecomponent is needed to provide information that is transmitted to atleast a data storage base or other memory storage for real time or latertime evaluation and analysis. The import of the data is to associate aspecific count for a first card out of the shoe with a particular roundof play for that first card out of the shoe. It is likely that the dataof the first card count will be associated with or identified with around of play identifier that may include at least some information suchas Casino name, table number, date, time, hand number, dealer ID, andplayer ID. The first card count is also associated with a handassignment such as the player hand or the banker hand.

Once the first card out of the shoe (for a particular round of play) hasbeen identified and associated with a round of play and table and/orparticular hand and/or player, that information must be transmitted atleast to temporary storage, either by hardwired transmission or wirelesstransmission to the memory storage element. This transmission may be inreal time, in packets for each round of play, or sent as a set of dateat intervals from the table or from the pit. The transmission may be rawsignals, translated signals, raw data or final data, as long as it isable to be stored with a content sufficient for the purposes of thepractice of this technology. In this regard, proprietary technology ofthe assignee as described in Published US Patent Applications20050288083; 20050012270; 20050026682; 20050051955; 20050062227;20050073102; 20050082750; 20050282622; 20050288083; and 20050288085 areincorporated herein by reference to support the technical practice ofthe technology described herein.

The bets may also be sensed, valued, measured and information, data andsignals there from, forwarded to the data storage, memory or activeprocessor. The initial signals or data may be generated by any of theknown sensing or measuring systems that have been contemplated by thegaming industry, much of which is disclosed in the applications andpatents identified herein and which have been incorporated by reference.Among the systems that can be used are image capture systems, edgereading systems, magnetic strip reading systems, RFID chip readingsystems, weighing of chips, code reading on chips (especially edgecoding), color discrimination of chips, IR responsive reading of chips,and any other system that can provide data about the value of a wager ata specific position. Systems have been proposed and described that canactively follow the location of individual chips and associate thoseindividual chips uniquely with individual players. Any such system canbe used in the practice of the present technology. Even visualobservation of wagering amounts and manual input by observers can beused in this feature of the technology, although automated wager readingsystems are preferred.

FIG. 1 shows a casino table 2 with the system implemented thereon. Ashuffler 4 is shown, along with a player hand position 6, 8 a dealerhand position 10 and 12, with the first card dealt being to position 6,a dealing shoe 3, and three player wagering positions 20, 22 and 24 withtwo wagering positions at each player wagering position, for wagers onthe player's hand 6, 8 or the dealer's hand 10 and 12. The sensors,readers, cameras, etc. associated with the generation of signals andcreation of data or information are shown sending signals to database 30and from database 30 to main processor 32. The database 30 and mainprocessor 32 may be local or accessible via a network connection (notshown). It is to be remembered that this is only one of a number ofembodiments described and enabled herein and the FIG. 1 should not beinterpreted as limiting the generic scope of the technology describedand enabled herein.

The identification of individual player positions, and associatingwagers and amounts of wagers with player positions is also disclosedwithin the technology incorporated herein and known to the industry.This can be assisted by biometric information taken from the player,player ID cards, player ID's associated with purchased andidentifiable/traceable chips, surveillance input from cameras or livepersonnel in the casino pits or any other method of providing theinformation so that it is associated with the identity of the playersmaking the wagers, or at least the location/position of players makingthe wagers, which information may be later enhanced for specific andmore complete player identification at a later time.

The information should be evaluated with at least some of the followingsets of data as a basis for analysis of “first card knowledge” cheating:

-   -   Player Position (PP), Round identification for Baccarat (RI),        Wager Amount (WA), Hand Wagered on (HW), count of first card        (CF), and location in hand of first card (LH).        This information set of PP-RI-WA-HW-CF-LH is a composite or        collective piece of data (CPD) that may be used for the analysis        necessary for identification of a wagering pattern indicative of        undesirable or even criminal activity. When this information is        stored in the database, its content can be used for the        comparison. Either a general and continuing review of the data        by a processor 32 may be used to identify the existence of a        problem, or triggering events based on partial analysis may be        used to initiate a review of a specific table or specific        player.

For example, if a player at a table shows erratic variations in wageringpatterns, such as 1×, 3× and 10× at other times, the variations may besufficient to trigger a review. If the first card dealt was a card ofsignificant count (e.g., 0 or 1, with the player wagering on the Bankhand, or 8 and 9 and the player wagering on the Player hand), moredetailed screening and review of the wagering at that position may beundertaken. More likely, a continual review of all wagering events ateach player position may be investigated. Team playing analysis, laterdescribed may also be undertaken.

The basis of the analysis is as follows. Successful use of first-cardout advantage (FCA) is most successful when the selection of the wagertype (Player versus Bank) is based upon that knowledge. This can betracked in a number of different ways. It is first understood that thesystem provides data in the form of the value of the first card out ineach hand. Analysis may be based only upon sets of count cards in thefirst card, that is a set may be 9 only, 0 only, 8 and 9, 9 and 0, 8, 9and 0, 9, 0 and 1, 8, 9, 0 and 1, and the like. A processor accessingthis information may analyze the information associated with datarelating to only wagers within the selected set. The analysis willoperate on the basis of the following type of operation of software:Look at Round # Is first card within set? Ignore if not in set Proceedto next step if in set Was wager placed on strategic hand? Ignore if notmade on strategic hand Proceed to next step if made on strategic handWhat was statistical variance of this wager versus wager on first cardsoutside set? If statistical variation insignificant, ignore Ifstatistical variation significant, alarm and further analysis of wagersof this player/position.This is the evaluation of the wagering play on a single hand after atleast a few hands have been played at a table by a single player. Theneed for data on multiple hands is apparent as a single player may sitat a table and make a single large and fortunate wager, without any FCAknowledge. It is the statistical and collective event situation that thecasino is interested in, which could be indicative of illegal andundesirable activity.

For example, look at the following wagering pattern of two players at asingle table and statistical pattern implying FCA can be seen at oneposition. B represents a banker hand wager and P represents a playerhand wager. F represents the count of the first card out. PLAYER 1PLAYER 2 Wager Wager Amount Hand Played F Hand Played Amount $10 B 8 P P$100 $10 B 6 P P  $10 $20 P 0 B P $100 $20 B 5 B B  $10 $10 P 9 P P $100$20 B 7 B B  $30 $30 P 1 B P $100 $30 P 4 P B  $10 $10 B 8 B B $100 $20B 2 B P  $20A review of the betting patterns, by visual observation and objectiveanalysis shows that Player 1 made some good bets and some bad bets,while Player 2 made wagers that were extraordinarily optimal wagers oneach hand, with wagers required on each hand. Not only were the wagersoptimal on hand selection, but also the variation in the amounts of thewagers was uniformly designed to take advantage of the assumed knowledgeof the first card out and the location of that first card. Not only werethe wagers generally properly placed, but the variation in the amount ofa wager on the proper hands maximized the opportunity for profit. Thisdata pattern for a single player would be readily evaluated by softwarelooking for such statistical patterns of best position wagers coupledwith best variation of wagers on hands.

It is to be expected that players, even with foreknowledge of the firstcard out would vary their wagers to avoid such ready detection, evenbetting against the favored position, usually with a reduced valuewager, to fend off automated analysis of wagering patterns. For example,the analysis software and system may review groups of wagers (e.g., setsof ten wagers) and look at patterns over different ranges, as part ofthe automated program. The system may evaluate sets of wagers, (i.e., aslarge as 100 or more) and emphasize only statistically anomalous wagers.For example, if in 100 wagers, 25 wagers were statistically greater thanothers (the degree being set in the software, such as 3×, 4×, 5×, etc.with regard to the lowest wager or the average wager), and astatistically significant proportion of those wagers (e.g., all 25, atleast 24, at least 23, at least 22, at least 21, or at least 20, forexample) were optimally wagered, this would again be indicative of FCAknowledge. It is unlikely that wagers on a 50/50 event would be wageredat an optimal rate exceeding 80/20 or more over an extended period oftime, especially when there is a multiplied wager amount associated withthat optimal wager. The software would identify this anomalous patternand an alert or flag would result from the data, most likely going tosecurity, to the pit, to record keeping, to the host facility, or thelike. The player would be identified and the potential source of the FCAwould be sought.

First-card Out Pre-knowledge or advantage (FCA) can occur from a numberof different causes. A player may be in collusion with a dealer (who mayhave access to card identification by control of the shuffling), theplayer may have marked cards, the dealer may be purposely exposing cardsbefore cards are dealt from the shoe, the cards may be pre-stacked withthe order of cards known to the player or dealer in collusion with aplayer, and the like.

As noted, the analysis may be done on a real time basis, that is,information from hands is immediately fed to a processor and thecomparison of wagering variations tied to the count of first cards ismade, or the analyses may be made over statistically significant timeperiods and over statistically meaningful numbers of hands. The analysismay be made by a processor at the table (with the appropriate softwareor hardware therein), in the pit, in a security area or at a centralprocessor area.

One methodology of practicing the technology described herein is amethod of detecting irregular play in the game of baccarat. The methodmay comprise each player electing to make a wager on one of the playerhand, banker hand or a tie hand. The system provides information on anddetects each player election. The system collects information on anddetects at least a wager presence or preferably a wager presence andwager amount made by a player on one of a Player hand and a Banker hand.The system records the wager amount and associates that wager amountwith a specific player or player position. The table ordinarily deals afirst card in a round to the Player hand. Alternatively, the first cardcould be dealt to the Banker hand, without changing the underlying gameor the First card Advantage issues discussed herein. The system detectsand stores a rank of the first card dealt in the round. The system thencompares player hand elections and wager amounts to stored data relatingto player hand elections, wager amounts and first card out counts. Basedon the stored data, the system determines whether the player may have orappears to have obtained unfair advantage by knowing the rank of thefirst card dealt and wagering in a manner to optimize that advantage.

The step of detecting each player's election may be accomplished by thedetection of a wagering chip, especially one having a known value, on alocation on the table that is assigned for receiving a wager or bet onthe player hand or the banker hand. The player wagering location andwagering amount may be simultaneously or sequentially detected andtransmitted. The player election, the sensing of the count of a firstcard and/or the wager amount may be effected or detected prior to a cardbeing dealt or prior to a card being exposed. Data is stored to enable acomparison of statistical events, such as the statistical rate of aplayer wagering on a player hand or banker hand and the relationship ofthose wagers to the count of the first card out of the dealer's shoedelivered to the player's hand and/or the banker's hand. The stored datashould correlate or enable correlation of at least information relatingto a player's hand election with a rank of a first card dealt and thelocation in the player's hand or the dealer's hand of that first carddealt.

The methods may be practiced on apparatus and systems for detectingunfair player advantage in a game of baccarat that may, for example,include: a card count (which may be provided by reading rank) reader; asensor for sensing at least a presence of a wager and preferably a valuefor the wager; a player hand election identifier; a player positionidentifier; and a processor programmed to analyze, compare, evaluate,categorize, and/or correlate player elections and at least one wagermade with that election with stored data, wherein the processor performsan analysis to identify player wagering patterns or events that areindicative of prior knowledge of a first card dealt. The card count orrank, as previously noted, may be read at any stage in the play of thegame by any device that can provide signals or data that can ultimatelybe stored as indicative of the card count or rank, in a shuffler, beforeinsertion into a shoe, in the shoe, as it leaves the shoe, after it hasleft the shoe and before being exposed and after being exposed.Similarly and as previously described, the chip and wager value may beread by any available technology at any appropriate time during thegaming event in any manner that provides a signal or data that canultimately be stored as identifying the amount of a wager in a gamingevent. A preferred wager-reading system would comprise a gaming tablewith a first RFID antenna embedded in a player wager location and asecond RFID antenna embedded in a banker wager location. Optionally, athird RFID antenna could be provided to record wagers on ties.

The location of the various reading, sensing, transmitting, storage,memory, and processing components may vary according to the design andchoices of the manufacturer and user. For example, the memory forstoring information relating to wager amounts may be in the shuffler,the dealing shoe, the game controller, a local processor or a centralprocessor. The processor and/or memory may be located within acard-reading shoe, within a local computer, within a network computer,within a card-reading shoe, within a local computer, and/or within anetwork computer, and the memory may be accessible via a networkconnection, a hard wired line, wireless line, through nodes or any othercommunication line or link. The information relating to card count orrank, wagers and player hand election may be delivered via a networkconnection to a network database that can be accessed by a processor.

1. A method of providing information from which analysis may infer amode of play in baccarat comprising: providing first information on atleast the presence of a wager made by a player in the play of a round ofbaccarat; providing second information on which of a player hand and adealer hand are made by the wager in the play of the round of baccarat;providing third information on a count of a first card delivered in theplay of the round of baccarat; and the first information, secondinformation and third information being provided to a database, andstoring the first information, second information and third informationin a database.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein fourth information onwhether a wager was placed on a tie event is provided.
 3. A method ofanalyzing information from which inference of a mode of play in baccaratmay be developed, the method comprising: providing first information ona wager made by a player in the play of a round of baccarat; providingsecond information on which of a player hand and a dealer hand are madeby the wager in the play of the round of baccarat; providing thirdinformation on a count of a first card delivered in the play of theround of baccarat; the first information, second information and thirdinformation being provided to a database; storing the first information,second information and third information in the database; comparinginformation obtained over multiple hands with respect to wagers placedon hands with or hands without the first card delivered to determinepercentage of wagers placed on hands in relationship to the count of thefirst card delivered.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the comparinginformation includes a weighted comparison based upon an amount of thewager.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein comparing information comprisesweighted analysis based on wagers made on cards having counts of atleast one of 0, 1, 8 and
 9. 6. The method of claim 3 wherein comparinginformation comprises weighted analysis based on wagers made on cardshaving counts of 0, 1, 8 and
 9. 7. The method of claim 3 wherein firstinformation, second information and third information from a round ofbaccarat is compared in real time to stored data for the player fromprevious hands.
 8. The method of claim 3 wherein first information,second information and third information from a round of baccarat iscompared periodically to stored data for the player from previous hands.9. The method of claim 3 wherein fourth information on whether a wagerwas placed on a tie event is provided.
 10. A method of automaticallyinferring a statistically improbable mode of play in baccaratcomprising: a player electing to make a wager on at least one of theplayer hand and a banker hand; detecting the player election; detectingat least a wager amount made by the player on one of a player hand and abanker hand; recording the wager amount; dealing a first card in a roundof baccarat; detecting a count of the first card dealt in the round ofbaccarat; comparing player hand elections and wager amounts to storeddata of that player's past hand elections and wager amounts made onthose hand elections; and based on the comparing, inferring from thecomparing a level of wagering events implying knowledge by the play ofthe count of the first card dealt.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe step of detecting the player election is accomplished by detecting alocation of a wagering chip on a location assigned for receiving a beton the player hand or a bet on the banker hand.
 12. The method of claim10, wherein the player election and wager amounts are simultaneouslydetected.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the player election isdetected prior to a first card being dealt.
 14. The method of claim 10,wherein each wager amount is detected prior to the first card beingdealt.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of detecting a countof the first card occurs prior to dealing the first card in a round. 16.The method of claim 10, wherein the stored data contains informationrelating to the statistical rate of occurrence of a player wagering on aplayer hand or banker hand according to the count of the first carddealt.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the stored data associates atleast information relating to a player's hand election with a rank of afirst card dealt.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the stored dataassociates at least information relating to the player's hand electionand rank of the first card dealt to wager amounts.
 19. A system fordetecting unfair player advantage in a game of baccarat, including: acard count reader; a sensor for sensing at least a presence of a wager;a player hand election identifier; a database storing first informationon player elections and wager presence for a player; a processorprogrammed to correlate player elections and at least wager presencewith stored first information, wherein the processor infers that aplayer is likely to have prior knowledge of a first card dealt from ananalysis of the first information.
 20. The system of claim 19, whereinthe card count reader is incorporated into a dealing shoe.
 21. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the card count reader is incorporated into acard shuffler.
 22. The system of claim 19, wherein the sensor sensesboth the presence and amount of a wager.
 23. The system of claim 22,wherein the sensor is an RFID sensor or camera.
 24. The system of claim19, and further comprising a gaming table with at least one RFID antennaembedded in a wager location.
 25. The system of claim 20, wherein thedealing shoe includes mechanical components capable of moving cards pastthe card rank reader.
 26. The system of claim 20, wherein the dealingshoe has no card moving mechanics.
 27. The system of claim 21, whereinthe card count reader comprises a CMOS sensor.
 28. The system of claim21 wherein the card rank reader comprises a CIS line sensor.
 29. Thesystem of claim 19 further comprising memory for storing informationrelating to player elections.
 30. The system of claim 19 furthercomprising memory for storing information relating to wager amounts. 31.The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is located within acard-reading shoe.
 32. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor islocated within a local computer.
 33. The system of claim 19, wherein theprocessor is located within a network computer.
 34. The system of claim30, wherein the memory is located within a card-reading shoe.
 35. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the memory is located within a localcomputer.
 36. The system of claim 30, wherein the memory is locatedwithin a network computer.
 37. The system of claim 30, wherein thememory is accessible via a network connection.
 38. The system of claim19, wherein information relating to card rank, wagers and player handelection is delivered via a network connection to a network database.39. The system of claim 22, wherein the card count reader comprises aCMOS sensor.
 40. The system of claim 22 wherein the card rank readercomprises a CIS line sensor.
 41. A method of detecting wagering in thegame of baccarat indicative of improper knowledge, comprising: At leastone player electing to make a wager on a player hand or a banker hand;detecting each player election; detecting a wager amount made by the atleast one player on one of the player hand and the banker hand;recording the wager amount; dealing a first card in a round of play ofbaccarat; detecting a rank of the first card dealt in the round;comparing the at least one player hand elections and wager amounts tostored data relating to a set of rounds of play of baccarat for the atleast one player; and based on comparison of the stored data, indicatinga likelihood that the at least one player has wagered in a mannerimplying knowledge of the rank of the first card dealt.